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THE GOOD PIE

If pizza was judged on looks alone, The Good Pie’s pizza’s would top every list in town. It’s sporadically puffy, dotted with charred bits of crust, covered in gooey cheese with toppings just strewn about. It looks like the pizza everyone wants to eat, but in taste it’s not everyone’s favorite. This pizza is essentially the hot girl/guy from your high school class. The question is: did this pizza have more than what meets the eye? Is it long-term relationship quality pizza or is it more of a casual hookup?

Before getting to know the pizza intimately, I decided to ease into the meal with a cocktail. Unfortunately, I cannot remember what the drink was called (great reviewer, huh?), but it definitely had strawberries and basil in it. My sister wasn’t a big fan due to the strong herbal flavor, but I enjoyed it. The cocktail list is pretty huge though and their bartenders looked like they knew what they were doing.

You may be surprised at how small The Good Pie’s menu is-two appetizers, a few salads, seven pizzas-but I like the no-bullshit attitude of it. You go there to drink and eat pizza. We picked the Salsiccia ($13.50) and the Mastunicola ($14.00), though we were tempted by the others. Cooking in an oven as hot as theirs means pizza comes out fast, so it wasn’t long before these two hit the table. Please take a moment to enjoy the view. Admire them for their beauty.

Let’s start with the more traditional Salsiccia, which was a tomato-based pizza with mozzarella, basil and ground sausage. To me, pizza isn’t really pizza if it doesn’t have a tomato base and cheese on it. The dough wasn’t as light and puffy as the other, which was disappointing, but combined with the toppings, it was still our favorite of the two. A good Margherita pizza is enjoyable on its own, but adding a meat usually takes it to the next level. The sausage on top was okay(though 90% of it was on one side of the pizza), but it didn’t have the crispiness or crunchiness I usually encounter. I assume that is just because of how quickly the pizza cooks. The pizza was good, but I probably would go with a normal Margherita next time.

I was sold on the Mastunicola for a few reasons. First of all, it seems to be the pizza that is on every write up of the restaurant. Secondly, it has cured pork belly and an egg on it. Sort of like a breakfast pizza? The dough on this, as you can see below, was out of this world. I punched my sister square between the eyes in order to get that puffy left side you see below. Was it worth it? Yes.

Overall, unfortunately, this pizza and I just weren’t made for each other. I don’t know if it was the lack of tomato or if it was the addition of sage, but it just didn’t taste right to me. That’s not to say it’s a bad pizza. I know quite a few people love this particular pizza. I knew when we ordered it that it wasn’t what I normally go for, but I wanted to give it a try. The Mastunicola and I gave it a whirl and just weren’t right for each other. I won’t dock the restaurant because of my poor ordering.

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The Good Pie is certainly a good to above good pie. It’s a little disappointing that there aren’t a few more starters, that the dough on the two pizzas we got came out so different from one another, and that you have to cut your own pizza. There isn’t another Neapolitan pizza place in town that I can think of, so I can’t compare it with much. If I wanted a standard pizza, I’m going to Pastaria. Deep dish goes to Pi. For Neapolitan, I would go to The Good Pie. I like it, but I don’t love it.